CHAPTER 15

The ball had died down, people leaving and wishing congratulations once again to the newly engaged couple on their way out. Servants began to clean up after the mess that was left behind, food and drinks spread throughout the hall that was once full of life.

Odin and Frigga had retired to their room and Thor had gone off in some form of a drunken state with his friends in the castle, leaving Loki and Lina to walk back to Loki's room hand in hand.

It was a picture perfect evening for Lina. As they walked together, she looked up at Loki's features. He returned her gaze, smiling at her as she blushed.

"Happy, love?" he inquired, her eyes dancing with a liveliness he had never seen before.

She looked down at her feet, smiling to herself. "Extremely," she replied. She squeezed his hand tighter, never wanting to let go.

When they reached Loki's room, Lina jumped onto the bed and laid flat on her stomach.

"While you get comfortable, I'm going to bathe. Won't be long," Loki informed, walking towards his washroom.

Lina turned herself over and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. So many things were rushing through her mind. She was overjoyed, elated, excited, and exhausted all at once. Her thoughts were scattered all over the place. She thought of Loki and being married to him. She thought of her family and how she wished they were here to share this momentous occasion with them.

Her family.

Lina sat up and began to stare into nothingness. This was the first time in quite some time that she had really given thought to them. Her heart ached slightly. On a night where she was feeling joy, she was suddenly overcome with sadness.

She had no idea how long she had been sitting there, but it had to have been long enough to not even notice Loki climbing on to the bed and resting his head on her right shoulder. "What's so interesting over here?" he inquired, staring in the same direction as Lina.

Shaking her head to snap herself out of the trance she had been in, Lina turned to face Loki, trying to smile brightly. "Nothing, my love. Getting tired is all."

Loki nodded, slight disbelief gracing his face. "Best you wash up now. Then you can rest."

"Yes, I think that'll do me some good."

Her bath relaxed her, helped ease her muscles from dancing, and set her mind at ease. She finished up, got dressed, then joined Loki who was reading on the bed.

"So, Prince Loki," she began. She crawled up between his arms, partially blocking his view of the book he was reading, and rested her head on his chest, "what now?"

He smiled and set his book on the side, taking Lina in his arms and holding her tightly. The aroma of her hair was addicting, making him rest his face in it. "Well," he muffled, "I suppose we plan for our wedding now. And then later we have children, have them grow up, have us grow old, and be happy for the rest of our lives."

"That sounds good," Lina replied, smiling up at him. "Although, there is the matter of my kingdom."

Loki sat up straighter and looked down at Lina. "What do you mean?"

"Well," she started, sitting up and facing Loki, "now that you and Thor have helped to reclaim my kingdom, there's a chance for me to go back and rule it properly, just as my father had intended for my brother to do before everything happened."

He nodded, looking down at his lap in thought. "So…what would that mean for us?"

Lina's brow furled as she thought hard. "I…don't know." She looked up to meet Loki's curious eyes. They were once she could get lost in over and over again. "I guess once we were married, we could rule the land together."

"King Loki," he breathed, his voice deepening with satisfaction.

Lina laughed at him and hit him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't get so power hungry over there," she teased. "No one likes a greedy king."

"Well you know that Thor and I are in line for Odin's throne," Loki reminded.

"As you've told me many many times." Lina rolled her eyes as she leaned back and stretched out on the bed, resting her feet in Loki's lap.

"So what if I'm chosen to rule Asgard?"

"Then I suppose we'll just have to see what happens then. We have to even see if it's possible for me to go back and rule my kingdom, and I feel that we're quite a ways off from Odin announcing which of you will become king after him."

Loki pouted slightly. It wasn't an issue that he liked to bring up often, but it was an issue that was becoming more and more pressing. From when he was a child, he wanted to become the ruler of Asgard. It was something he had desired almost as much as he desired Lina. To compete with his brother was the only challenge he faced, and it was definitely challenge enough. Thor's strength definitely outshined that of his brother's, making him not only a better warrior, but a more likely choice for being Odin's heir.

"Are you okay?" Lina interrupted.

Loki shifted his focus to Lina who was now lying next to him, her eyes signaling the tiredness of the evening.

He nodded, his face still showing signs of his thoughts as he joined her. He opened his arms for her to crawl into, allowing her to curl up next to him.

"Don't think so much about the future, Loki," Lina stated, tracing circles onto his chest. "All that matters is that we're together now, right?"

Loki sighed deeply and hugged Lina tighter. "Of course, my flower. I wouldn't trade this for anything and I would fight for you if I were to ever lose you."

"I love you, Loki."

"I love you too, Lina."

And with that, the couple drifted off into a deep slumber.

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Good morning, New York City. It's a beautiful day today, the clouds just opening up to let the sun shine through. Highs today will be in the upper 80's, lows dropping down tonight into the lower 70's.

She felt for her radio, hitting everything she could feel until she found the snooze button. Her head was pounding, like someone was hitting a bass drum right between her eyes as hard as they could.

Slowly rising, her eyes squinted as the sunlight filled her room with what seemed to be the brightest light in the world. Her body ached, probably because she was overdue for a change in mattress and pillows. Her room was in the same state it was in the night before, which she hoped it wasn't. Clothes were strewn everywhere in her search for her business professional clothing. Books were stacked in unorganized piles on her desk and her computer monitor was showing a screensaver of various colorful lines dancing across the screen.

Lina kicked one leg over to the side of her bed, the other one following. She walked to her bathroom and started to run the water in her sink. She looked up in the mirror, studying her features.

The dream she just had was the most vivid thing she had ever seen. She wasn't even sure if it really was a dream. It must have been the headache that was interfering with her thoughts because she couldn't really remember anything prior to that morning.

She finished washing her face, brushing her teeth, and preparing herself for the day. She walked out into the living room to see her business clothes laid out on her couch. Changing into the white blouse, black slacks, black jacket, and heels, she strolled over to the kitchen table. Her application for S.H.I.E.L.D. sat next to her resume.

After the attacks on New York City and the assembling of the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been recruiting new agents. Or…at least that's what Lina thought. She couldn't remember why she was going to the interview today. She just knew that it was what she had to do, blaming the headache again for her lack of remembering.

Lina grabbed a bagel out of a bag on the counter, the application and resume off of the table, and started to head out of her apartment. Halfway to the elevator, though, she stopped dead in her tracks. She felt the area around her neck and panicked. Sprinting as fast as her legs could take her in heels, Lina returned to her apartment and started to frantically look under all of the messy clothes to find a little black box.

Upon finding it, Lina breathed out a deep sigh of relief and opened it. A necklace lay nestled inside: a green emerald on a silver chain. This necklace was very important to Lina, but at the moment she couldn't remember why.

Hurriedly, she put it on and left her apartment once again, not knowing what she was to encounter on her new adventure.

Thank you so much for all of the support for this story! A sequel will be coming out soon and I'll update this area with the title once it's been decided :)

-sparrowlina